The Horrifying Case of the Arklay Murders
by Bruja Escarlata
Summary: STARS Bravo Team went missing after being sent to investigate the bizarre murders of the Arklay Mountains. Now it's up to Alpha Team to rescue them and solve the case. They didn't know what they were walking into, and soon things were about to change.
1. The Nightmare Begins

**Chapter 1**

**The Nightmare Begins**

It wasn't like any other day at the police station. People were nervous, because for the last twenty four hours there hasn't been any news from STARS Bravo Team.

Chris Redfield entered the STARS office in a hurry. Wesker was there, on his desk, with a hand suspiciously on his dark shades. And Barry, Joseph and Brad were getting ready. Barry looked at Chris and nodded at him.

"Where's Jill?", asked Chris, walking to her desk.

There he saw her beret and that picture with a redhead woman on it. "Damn it, Jill never told us who this person is", said Chris. "Who cares", Joseph replied.

Finally Jill made it to the office. She was carrying a small cardboard bag, which everybody knew had a sandwich inside. They joked about that on a daily basis, calling it Jill sandwich because they underestimated her homemade food... she never found that funny.

"Finally, everyone is here", Wesker said and passed a hand over his hair. "Get ready, we don't have much time".

Wesker stood up and walked out of the office. Jill went to her desk, took the blue beret and put it on her head. She had to accommodate her long hair a bit.

Barry gave her some 9mm clips and a confident nod. Joseph took a shotgun, then he put a small camera on his shoulder, and a fancy red bandana on his head.

"Let's go. Don't forget to take food, water and ammunition", Chris said.

They left the office and walked through long corridors until they reached the secretary's office. She was there, reading a book with a bored look on her face. A couple of officers were there, drinking coffee and talking about the disappearence of Bravo Team.

The STARS passed by them and made it to the helipad. Brad was the first to enter the helicopter. He went to the pilot seat and put the engines in motion.

Wesker was standing by the side of the vehicle holding the door open. "Come on, people. We have a job to do", the captain said.

Once they were all aboard, the helicopter got up in the air and headed towards the Arklay Mountains.

Bizarre murders had been reported in the last weeks. People were afraid, but it took a couple of victims to put things in motion. The access to the mountains was closed, and the RPD sent the STARS Bravo Team to investigate. Things started to go bad the moment contact with Bravo Team was lost. What was going on in the mountains?

The night fell upon them. The helicopter had its frontal light on, trying to see something among the trees was difficult.

Jill was sitting near a window, and for a moment she saw what looked like the remains of the Bravo Team helicopter.

"Look, Chris!" Jill said, pointing at the wreckage.

"Hey Brad, stop! I think we found it" Chris said to Brad.

The pilot needed to find a better spot to land, so it had to move a bit away from the crashing site.

After maneuvering a bit, it finally landed. Somehow everything seemed darker, having the trees blocking the moonlight. Wesker took a couple of flashlights from a box and handed them to the rest of the team.

"Okay, this is what we're going to do. Jill and Joseph, go to the helicopter and see if there are any survivors. Barry and I will cover that zone over there, and Chris...", Wesker paused and looked at Chris with an annoyed expression, "You stay here, near Brad."

"Wait, but I want to help" Chris complained.

"This is an order, Redfield" sentenced Wesker.

Chris nodded and walked near the pilot's cabin. Brad smiled and made a hand gesture to him, but Chris ignored him.

However, the moment Barry and Wesker disappeared through the darkness, Chris started to walk stealthy a few meters behind Jill.

Joseph was leading the way, while Jill had his back covered. The silence was almost unnatural, the only thing they heard were distant thunder, wind, and wood cracking.

"We should've come earlier" Jill said, struggling to see in the dark.

"I know, right", Joseph answered biting his lip. "But what can you do, captain's orders".

They finally reached the wreckage. It looked really bad, and nobody was around. Joseph walked to the pilot's cabin and suddenly retreated, almost falling to the ground.

"Oh fuck!" he shouted.

Jill got to his side quickly and looked at the cabin. There was the dead body of Kevin, missing an eye.

"Oh my God" Jill said, with a sad tone.

"I hope the rest are okay. Listen, I'm gonna check the other side of the helicopter. You stay here and secure this area", Joseph said with a little shaking in his voice.

"Okay", Jill nodded.

Joseph began walking to the other side of the helicopter. It was very damaged, there were some boxes and tools spread through the ground.

He was pointing the flashlight mounted on his shotgun to the ground, looking for clues. Suddenly he found something.

It was a STARS card. Edward Dewey.

"Oh shit, Edward. I hope you're alright", Joseph mumbled.

He kept walking, hoping to find someone alive. But suddenly he heard a branch cracking behind him.

Joseph turned around really fast, pointing his shotgun in all directions. He kept his stance, moving only his eyes. It seemed like he was just scared...

He took a breath and lowered his weapon. But in a matter of seconds, something came running to his side and jumped to him, biting his arm.

The shotgun fell to the ground. Suddenly there were some beasts biting his arm and legs. Joseph started to scream, draw his side gun and started shooting aimlessly.

Jill heard the commotion and went in the direction of the shooting. By the time she reached her partner, he was already dead and being eaten by creepy dogs. Those dogs bear exposed bones and tissue in some parts of their bodies.

She was frozen with her Samurai Edge pointing at the pack of dogs. One of them looked in her direction with creepy milky eyes. Then the dog started to run towards her.

Jill took at step back and fell on the ground. The dog jumped to her, intending to bite her face off but he was met with a precise bullet that destroyed his snout. Jill looked behind her shoulder, confused. Chris came to her side, "come on!" he yelled.

He helped her to get up, while the rest of the dogs were finishing with Joseph's body and looking in their direction.

Both Jill and Chris started to run away from the wreckage, chased by those savage dogs. The darkness caused Chris to trip over a stone, falling on his knees. Jill stopped, in a fraction of a second she looked at Chris and the dog coming just a few meters behind him.

"Go, Jill!" yelled Chris, reading his weapon.

But before he could do anything, the dog's head was blown off by a powerful shot coming from a few meters to his left.

"Chris, this way!", Wesker shouted. Barry was with him, shooting at the dogs.

The four started to run back to the landing site, but suddenly they heard the sound of the helicopter's engines. A few moments later, the helicopter was up in the sky getting away.

"No! Don't go!" yelled Chris.

"Goddamnit, Brad", Jill mumbled, still in shock.

They could hear more dogs howling in the distance.

"We can't stay here", Barry said.

"Yeah, no kidding", Chris replied angrily.

More dogs started to come after them. Wesker told them to keep running, until Chris saw a big house among the trees.

"Jill, over there!" Chris pointed.

Jill kept running, at one point with her eyes almost closed. She reached the door and opened it.

Barry was behind her, he threw himself inside the mansion. Wesker made it seconds later, and closed the door just as a dog tried to get into the hall.

Jill fell on her knees, trying to catch a breath. Barry looked around him. It was a big hall, with stairs and doors to the sides. There were some candles lit along with the electrical lights. And suspiciously, there was a typewritter next to the main stairwell.

"Wow, what a mansion!", Wesker observed, looking really surprised.

Jill got up, and immediately noticed Chris' absence. Barry seemed to have noted it too, and a scared look crossed his face.

"Captain Wesker, where's Chris?", Jill asked, starting to feel despair.

"I thought he was by your side", Wesker answered.

"He must be outside, then!", Jill cried and ran towards the door, but Wesker stood in her way.

"You don't wanna do that, Jill. If you open that door, the dogs will get inside", Wesker sounded calm.

"But Chris..."

A distant gunshot interrupted her. They all looked to a double door on the left side of the hall. A thunder resonated in the sky, with lighting flashing into the hall.

"What is it?", Barry asked, concerned.

"Maybe it's Chris... can you look into it, Jill?", Wesker said.

"I'm going with her. Chris is an old partner, you know", Barry said.

Wesker nodded.

"Okay. Stay alert. And come back here when you finish", Wesker ordered.

Jill and Barry nodded. They walked to the double doors, and after crossing them they found themselves in a dining room.

A longcase clock was clocking loudly. There were some things on the big table that occupied a large portion of the room but nothing important.

By the end of the table there was a chimney with fire. Barry started to walk in that direction.

Jill looked around her. There was a balcony above the dining room. She inspected a strange painting on the wall, and noted there was another typewritter next to a window.

She saw Barry kneeling in front of the chimney.

"What? What is this?", Barry asked.

Jill got to his side.

"What is it?"

"Blood. I hope this is not Chris' blood...", Barry said, looking concerned.

Jill then noted there was a door not too far away from the chimney. She wondered if the wounded person would've go that way.

She opened the door and found herself in a poorly lit corridor. There was a cold and unsettling breeze going through, and she heard something disgusting coming from the left side. Like if something was chewing juicy meat.

"Oh my... maybe the dogs got inside", Jill thought, feeling scared. She want back to the dining room.

Barry was still inspecting the blood. He didn't have any medical equipment, so for a moment Jill wondered what was he doing.

"Barry, I think the dogs got into this house...", Jill said.

He stood up. Seemed to be scared.

"What? How?", Barry asked.

"I don't know. I should report this to Wesker", Jill said.

"You're right. Go on, I'll be right behind you".

Barry got a bit distracted looking at some emblem on top of the chimney. Jill started to walk towards the double doors, when suddenly she heard the other door opening with a cracking sound.

She turned around and saw a bald, pale man, with strange eyes walking towards her, extending his arms and growling. His clothes were ruined and had stains of blood. Then she noticed his mouth was dripping with blood too.

Barry looked at him and immediately draw his revolver, aiming at the man.

"Hey you! Stop!", Barry sounded menacing, "run, Jill! He's insane!", and after saying that, Barry shot and the head of the man exploded like a watermelon.

The headless body fell to the ground. Jill was shaken.

"What the hell is going on here?", Jill asked.

"You're safe now. Let's go back to Wesker", Barry said.

Jill nodded. They went back to the main hall, but to their surprise Wesker wasn't there.

Barry walked a few steps, looking confused.

"Wesker?!", he shouted.

Jill holstered her weapon. Things were getting really bad too fast.

"Jill, help me find Wesker but do not leave this room", Barry said.

"I'll look over there", Jill said, pointing at the top of the stairs.

Barry started to look around the ground floor while Jill took up the stairs and inspected the upper floor. There were more doors. A pair of double doors clearly led to the balcony she saw earlier on top of the dining room. The other doors, however, were closed. And what was behind them was a mystery.

Jill went back to the ground floor.

"Find anything, Jill?", Barry asked, with a disappointed look on his face.

"Nothing", she said shaking her head.

Barry let out a deep breath.

"What is this all about? I can't figure it out at all", Jill whispered, mostly to herself.

"We have to find him. Let's split up and see if he is still around", Barry suggested.

"Okay", Jill agreed.

"I'll go back over there", Barry said pointing at the doors of the dining room. "You go over there, Jill", then he pointed to the doors in the right side.

Jill nodded. Barry was about to walk away, but he turned to her and handed her a lockpick.

"Jill, take this. Since you're the master of unlocking, this might come in handy", Barry said.

Jill took the lockpick and put it into her pocket.

"Thanks. Maybe I'll need it", Jill smiled for the first time in the night.

"Listen, if something happens, let's meet up in this hall. Okay?" Barry said, with a bit more of confidence in his voice.

"Okay, I agree" Jill said.

Barry nodded and went through the dining room doors. Jill found herself alone... and still a bit confused and scared. She looked to the blue doors on the right side. They looked kinda ominous.

They had always told her that she was brave. She made a great career in the police force, and at some point it was like nothing could stop her. There wasn't a single robber, mobster or serial killer that she couldn't catch. But this... nothing had prepared her to something like this.

The nightmare had just begun.


	2. Over at the Spencer Mansion

Chapter 2

There's a light over at the Spencer Mansion

How did everything went to shit so quickly? Chris wondered. He had lost his radio and his handgun in the chase, but he still had his trusty combat knife.

"Okay, I was a bit too far behind them..." he thought, trying to rationalize why Wesker closed the doors almost on his face.

But he was a resourceful man. After evading the dogs, he managed to jump a fence and landed in what looked like a small garden.

There were a couple of windows without bars. One was tightly shut, but another one had its wood really rotten. So after kicking it a bit, he managed to open the window and entered the mansion.

He was in a corridor with a decrepit look and a disgusting smell in the air. The wooden floor looked rotten, and there were humidity stains on the walls. However, everything was silent.

Walking through the corridor, he saw some stairs leading up to an upper floor. He was tempted to take them, but a small door near the stairs caught his attention. A sign next to it said "Infirmary".

Chris opened the door and the moment he stepped inside, something was sprayed on his face. He cough and his eyes got full of tears.

"Aw! My fuckin' eyes!" Chris yelled, almost blind.

The next thing he heard was a sweet voice, full of regret.

"What?! OH! Oh, no!"

Chris felt something on his face. He started to feel better. When he could see more clearly, the face of the rookie Rebecca Chambers was in front of him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that...", Rebecca apologized.

Chris tried to play it for laughs.

"Ha! Don't worry. I'm okay now. Bravo Team, huh?", Chris said.

Rebecca smiled, embarrased. Then she nodded.

"Yes. I joined the STARS Bravo Team last month.I'm really sorry, are you sure that you're okay?" Rebecca said with a worried look.

Chris wouldn't notice it, but there was some red irritation under his eyes.

"I'm okay. My name is Chris Redfield, I'm from Alpha Team. Are you the only Bravo Team member here?", Chris said.

"Well... it's complicated...", Rebecca answered.

"What happened?", Chris asked.

"Come here", Rebecca pointed at the bed.

That was the first time Chris noticed the bed... and the cabinets full of medicines and chemicals. There even was a box with a few useless items inside, and a desk with a typewriter.

"Okay... ", Chris said, a bit confused.

But Rebecca made him sit on the bed, while she sitted next to him and started to check his eyes.

"I'll tell you what happened while I treat your eyes", Rebecca said, opening a small medkit between she and Chris.

"Okay... tell me what happened", Chris said.

The flashback begins...

"We were flying above the forest, perhaps half an hour after having taken off, when suddenly the helicopter went down...", Rebecca narrated.

The Bravo Team members were getting their weapons ready. Richard looked at Rebecca and winked. She smiled and looked outside, to the dark forest below her.

"Okay, the instructions are clear. The last witness said that another murder had taken place in the forest, near a 'big house'... I don't know of any houses here, so we'll have to stay sharp and focused", Enrico Marini said inflating his chest.

Everyone nodded.

"Now we don't know exactly what are we up against with. It could be a cult of murderers, or deranged hunters of humans. In any case, it's gonna be dangerous, and I want everybody to come back home with me in one piece. No casualties. But if we have to take them out, we'll do it", Enrico made a pause to look at his team. "Understood?", the captain asked.

"Yes, sir", Rebecca said, along with her teammates.

Suddenly an explosion shook the helicopter. An alarm went off, and the vehicle started to lose altitude in circles.

Enrico ran to the pilots cabin.

"What's going on?!", he asked.

"Mechanical failure! We're going down!", Edward yelled.

The helicopter crashed against some trees and hit the ground, moving a few meters because of the inercy.

Rebecca was stunned. She heard someone mumbling, and after the dust settled she saw that everyone seemed to be okay.

"Is everyone alright?", the captain asked.

They all answered positively. There wasn't anyone with serious wounds.

"Let's go. Kevin, you stay here and try to contact the RPD", Enrico ordered.

Kevin made a thumbs up.

They stepped into the forest with flashlights. There was no sign of life.

Enrico rounded up his team, passed a hand through his face.

"Okay, we're going to split into two groups. Richard, Forest and Rebecca, go in that direction and see if you can find anything", said Enrico pointing past the helicopter. "We will be going to the other side. Keep your radios on", the captain added.

Everyone got their instructions, so they started to move. Forest took the lead. He had long hair, a blue vest, and carried a grenade launcher on his hands.

Rebecca was behind him, and Richard was last. They were walking for a while, feeling observed.

Suddenly, a dog started barking. They couldn't see it, until something moved to their left. The dogs looked absolutely disgusting and run towards the group with their mouths open, showing their fangs.

Richard shot one of the dogs, but it only wounded it. More of them started to come about and chased the group until they found a mansion, deep within the forest.

"What the hell is this?!", Forest asked.

"Shut up and get inside!", Richard yelled.

Forest opened the door of the main hall and helped Richard and Rebecca to get in. After that he closed the door.

Rebecca was trying to catch her breath, and Richard was panting. Forest took at look around him. Rebecca did the same. She felt uneasy, that mansion seemed to be so out of place.

Richard took his radio and tried to contact Enrico, without luck. For some reason he only received static.

"Something's not right", Richard said.

"Yeah, I see", Forest replied.

"We should take a look around", Richard suggested.

Both Forest and Rebecca agreed. They took the stairs to the upper floor. They had their weapons ready, for anything that could happen.

Forest pointed to the first door they saw. Richard and Rebecca took positions just like they had done in many drills. When they were ready, Forest opened the door.

He was welcomed by a corridor with red carpet and dim-litted by a few lamps. Far into the passage something sounded like footsteps.

Forest entered first. There was a door to the right. Richard approached it.

"I'll see if there's something useful here", Aiken said.

"Okay. We will secure this corridor", Forest answered.

Richard opened the door and entered. Rebecca was nervous, she didn't want to leave him alone but Forest could need her help too.

"Get ready, rookie. Seems like you're going to see some action today", Forest said with a smug smile.

"I already want to get out of here...", Rebecca said.

The footsteps had stopped for a moment, but they started to hear them again. Forest approached the corner of the corridor, with his weapon ready.

Rebecca followed close-by, carrying her gun in her hands.

"Okay, come out with...", Forest was giving the standard order to the suspect, but was interrupted when the attack occured.

Rebecca saw a man with ragged clothes, bloodstains all over him, grabbing Forest by the arm and viciously biting him.

"Fuck! Let me go!", Forest yelled.

Forest punched the man on the face, making him retreat a little. Then he saw it for what it was... that wasn't a man. His white eyes were unnatural, he growl and tried to reach him again.

Forest tried to shoot his grenade launcher but it seemed to be jammed.

"Run, Rebecca!", Forest ordered.

Rebecca took a few steps back and headed back to the main hall. She heard Forest struggling, but couldn't look back.

She kept running to the other side of the hall, entering a balcony that overlooked a dining room. Something was very wrong with that mansion.

Rebecca went to the only door on the other side, and entered a corridor with yellow walls and poor lighting. She heard something and stopped, her heart racing like crazy.

She walked slowly towards the corner of the corridor. In front of her she saw a staircase that led to a floor below.

But before she could do anything, a rotten hand appeared before her eyes. A zombie came around the corner, trying to catch her.

Rebecca yelled and pushed him. The zombie fell along with her gun. Then Rebecca past quickly by him and went down through the stairs.

There was the infirmary. She got inside quickly and hide.

Some minutes passed. She took her radio but it didn't worked, so she threw it away. Then she turned her attention to the cabinets. By inspecting them, she found a spray for self defense.

End of flashback.

Chris felt better, but the story was disturbing. He stood up with a determined look on his face.

"And I've been here since then...", Rebecca finished her story.

She hid her face with her hands and started sobbing.

"I can't believe I left Forest and Richard behind! If something happened to them it's my fault!", she cried.

"Easy, Rebecca. You're not in charge of anybody, we should be taking care of you. I think Forest kept that in mind", Chris said trying to comfort her.

"You think?", Rebecca said.

"Of course. And now we should go and find them. Your gun is probably upstairs, right?", Chris said with confidence.

Rebecca nodded. Chris pulled out the knife.

"It's good you're here. Let's do this together", Chris said.

"Yes, sir!", Rebecca answered.

Chris opened the door and Rebecca followed him. They went upstairs trying to be stealthy, but the wood cracked over every step.

The zombie was wandering aimlessly. Chris walked to him quickly, and stabbed him in the head. The zombie fell to the ground pouring blood.

Chris pulled the knife out of the zombie's head and holstered. Then by walking a bit through the corridor he found Rebecca's gun on the floor.

"Take it, I think it will be more useful in your hands", Rebecca said after glancing at the dead zombie.

"Thanks. Do you have any clips?", Chris asked.

Rebecca nodded and gave three clips to him.

Chris checked the gun. Everything seemed to be alright.

"Now... where is the rest of the team?", Rebecca wondered innocently.

"Like you said, it was complicated. Joseph died, I don't know what happened to everyone else", Chris paused letting that sink in, "we have to find them, too".

Rebecca seemed unsettled. She shook her head with sadness.

"But first... let's find Forest and Richard", Chris said.

Chris was glad to have found Rebecca, but the whole situation seemed to be worse than expected. They had to find everyone and get the hell out of that mansion.


End file.
